#penncentral

Wolverine Super Moon

An eastbound Amtrak train number 252, a Wolverine, is speeding through Galesburg, Michigan. The moon is just past full (at 99.7% illumination).

The town of Galesburg is just east of Kalamazoo on the former Michigan Central Railroad, part of the New York Central System.

Wolverine Super Moon: the Animation

An eastbound Amtrak train number 252, a Wolverine, is speeding through Galesburg, Michigan. The moon is just past full (at 99.7% illumination) back on November 5th 2025.

The town of Galesburg is just east of Kalamazoo on the former Michigan Central Railroad, part of the New York Central System.

The Second of Two in Battle Creek

To follow up on the previous post, this is a westbound Amtrak Wolverine, number 355, making its station stop in Battle Creek.

Again: this stretch of tracks at the Amtrak station are jointly owned—by the Grand Trunk (now CN) and the Michigan Central, which this train will be taking toward Kalamazoo and Chicago beyond. (The Michigan Central was part of the NYC and thus became PC, Conrail, and finally NS before now being owned by Amtrak or the state of Michigan.)

Fifty Years Hence (8 of 8)

Being in Indianapolis for a conference last weekend, I made a series of down and dirty before-and-after work: the Big Four in Indianapolis, west of town to Avon Yard, and fifteen miles beyond that.

This eighth and final pair in the series has us 27 miles west of Union Station along the Big Four (New York Central). I was excited to finally find this spot to match my vintage image—made six months into the Conrail era (note the blue SD45 trailing).

But no train would come on this visit, despite a long wait as the sun dipped below the horizon. I had to force myself to give up: it was getting late, I was cold, hungry, with a drive to the hotel yet to accomplish. But the sunset was pleasing: I bagged this shot along the way, just west of Danville, a while after the sun had dropped.

I would end up going to bed with but a granola bar for my dinner. Once again, a photo series ends, not with a bang, but a whimper.

Fifty Years Hence (7 of 8)

Being in Indianapolis for a conference last weekend, I made a series of down and dirty before and after work: the Big Four in Indianapolis, west of town to Avon Yard, and just a bit beyond.

This seventh pair in the series has us just one mile west of Avon Yard, at County Road 625 East and the so-called "Haunted Bridge" the story of which I know not. The vintage image here was made when Conrail was but one month old.

As stated in an earlier post, in 1976 we rail enthusiasts were excited as motive power from several eastern roads suddenly populated this Midwest engine servicing track and piloted trains on the mainline. Here we have a pair of Reading Company's GP35s running a train westward on the Big Four/NYC toward St. Louis.

I got an EB train in the newer image, but was not set up in time to catch the head end (not in the proper position anyway).

Fifty Years Hence (5 of 8)

Being in Indianapolis for a conference last weekend, I made a series of down and dirty before and after work: the Big Four in Indianapolis, west of town to Avon Yard, and beyond just past Danville, Indiana.

This fifth pair was made at the west end of Avon Yard (which is located west of Indianapolis by ten miles or so). The vintage image here was made when Conrail was but one month old.

We rail enthusiasts were excited as motive power from several eastern roads (which had been folded into the new consolidated railway) suddenly populated this Midwest engine servicing track and piloted trains on the mainline. Here we have a pair of Reading GP35s running a train westward on the Big Four/NYC toward St. Louis.

And the new image shows that not much had changed here for whatever reason. Prior to this trip, I had thought the hump may have been removed (they seem to have fallen out of favor over the last decade or two), but we now see that it's still alive and well. However: the two engines shoving cars over the top were remote control operated, which is different from the time of the vintage image.

Fifty Years Hence (3 of 8)

Being in Indianapolis for a conference last weekend, I made a series of down and dirty before and after work: the Big Four in Indianapolis, west of town to Avon Yard, and beyond just past Danville, Indiana.

This third pair is also from IJ Tower, looking westward along the combined B&O/P&E.

The vintage images in this string of posts come from the time around the formation of Conrail (April 1st 1976). Two common denominators in the work: an explosion of foliage—along with a reduction in rails.